Put it all together, and it begged the question: Does McCarron, after winning two national championships and finishing second in the 2013 Heisman trophy voting, feel disrespected heading into the 2014 NFL Draft?

"Definitely. For sure," he said. "I feel like I've been disrespected my whole college career because I won."

When he was pigeon-holed as a "game manager" throughout his three years as Alabama's starting quarterback, McCarron rarely showed that it bothered him. Instead, he embraced it, often saying that every quarterback should strive to be the manager of his team's offense.

That's what made Friday's admission so intriguing.

As the focus shifts from the team he leads to just him, McCarron is spinning the negative things he hears -- and this type of chatter is common with every prospect in the draft -- into motivation.

"The knock on me is deep ball and that we won and I won behind NFL talent, which is crazy because when you get to the NFL you're playing with NFL talent," he said. "It's not like we didn't play anybody. We played in the SEC. To me, it's the best conference in college football.

"I definitely have a chip on my shoulder. I'm ready to get out there and prove people wrong."

In earnest, he'll receive that chance Sunday, when he performs in all of the NFL Combine's agility drills and, most importantly, throws for the hundreds of scouts, general managers and coaches here at Lucas Oil Stadium. The decision was a newsmaker late Thursday, as a number of top-ranked quarterbacks, including Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel, Fresno State's Derek Carr and Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater, will wait until their respective Pro Days to throw for scouts.

McCarron, who is ranked as high as fifth among quarterbacks in this year's class, drew the ire of some scouts and pundits when he opted to pass on an invitation to the Senior Bowl. His decision to throw here has generated the opposite response.

"I just felt like it was a good choice for myself," McCarron said. "I'm healthy, better than I've ever been. I know free agent week starts the same time as our Pro Day, so some GMs and head coaches might not be able to come down, so I felt like it was the best opportunity for me to showcase what I've been working on since our last game and leading up to Pro Day."

McCarron has spent the past month working with his longtime quarterback coach, David Morris, in Jackson, Miss., to prepare for both this weekend's activities and next month's Pro Day (March 12). The biggest change has centered on how he delivers his deepest passes, as an extensive film review showed a tendency to release it wide, which ultimately hurt distance and accuracy.

"Does not have a big-time, vertical arm. Average athlete," the report reads. "Makes occasional bone-headed decisions. Heaves the deep ball and forces receivers to make adjustments. Does not drive the deep out."

Clearly, McCarron was aware of this sort of criticism.

"My arm's strong enough," he said. "I can throw the ball 65 yards but I had a bad habit of releasing the ball out wide and not staying vertical on it. I think the times I had to throw the ball deep and stayed a vertical release on it, the ball stayed far."

In an interview with AL.com earlier this month, Morris said McCarron was "mentally tough" when it pertained to handling criticism. Even after Sunday, there won't be any shortage of it, as players will go even further under the microscope leading into May's NFL Draft.